Hyperbaric Chamber
What are the benefits of mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy?
A clean supply of oxygen-enriched air under pressures of 1.3 or 1.4 ATA causes an increase in oxygen delivery to injured or hypoxic tissues at a 400% deeper level than our normal blood supply can penetrate. Breathing oxygen inside the pressure chamber increases the total amount of oxygen delivered to the cells by the bloodstream (Henry’s law).
An increase in ambient pressure (and thus partial pressure) results in more gas dissolving into the liquid portion of blood and tissues. This causes oxygen to dissolve into fluids such as plasma, cerebrospinal fluid and synovial fluid, resulting in a systemic saturation of the brain, neurological system, muscles, joints and organs, reaching difficult-to-reach areas in an attempt to promote healing.
Mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy provides a number of benefits, including:
- Decreases inflammation and swelling
- Increases concentration and alertness during mental activity
- Forces oxygen 400% deeper into bodily tissues
- Saturates plasma with oxygen and promotes healing of all tissues within the body
- Increases white blood cell formation
- Strengthen the immune system
- Promotes new blood vessels growth
- Increases the synthesis of stem cells as well as their translocation to the central nervous system
- Direct production of stem cells in the brain
- Antimicrobial effect
- Has a favorable effect on sleep
- Smoothing of wrinkles and fine lines
- Increases blood flow
- Antioxidant enzymes are upregulated, and oxidative stress is reduced
- Reduces the bacterial/yeast burden in the intestines and in the gut
- Improves athletic performance and recovery, as well as faster injury recovery
- Increases readiness score for athletes
- Reduces viral load present throughout the body
- Serotonin production is increased
- Detoxification involves removal of mercury and other heavy metals from the body
Adequate oxygen supply by exposure to mild hyperbaric oxygen at appropriately high atmospheric pressure 1266–1317 hPa (1,266 – 1,317 bar) and increased oxygen concentration (35–40% oxygen) has a possibility of improving the oxidative metabolism in cells and tissues without barotrauma and excessive production of reactive oxygen species. Therefore, metabolic syndrome and lifestyle-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes and hypertension, were inhibited and improved by exposure to mild hyperbaric oxygen. It accelerated the growth-induced increase in oxidative capacity of the skeletal muscle in rats and inhibited the age-related decrease in oxidative capacity of the skeletal muscle in mice. A decrease in dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of mice with Parkinson’s disease was inhibited by exposure to mild hyperbaric oxygen. This review describes the beneficial effects of exposure to mild hyperbaric oxygen therapy on some metabolic diseases and their perspectives.